A man illegally knocked down his own house, leaving only the façade of the building intact - prompting his neighbours to fear for their own safety. Mohammed Ali Khan has been ordered to pay more than £6,000 after tearing down the £800,000 semi-detached home in Isleworth, West London.
The 45-year-old started pulling down the three-bed home, in a leafy suburb close to Kew Gardens, Twickenham Stadium and Hounslow town centre, in January 2022, MyLondon reports. Hounslow Council's building control service started an investigation after worried neighbours contacted them to air concerns about their own safety and wellbeing after only the front of the house was left standing and surrounded by scaffolding.
Khan, of Thornbury Road, was hauled in front of the courts and was found guilty of instructing a contractor to demolish the building, on Grove Road, without notifying the Local Authority as required by section 80(2) of the Building Act 1984 after a trial at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on February 3. He was ordered to cough up £6,043.34 in fines by magistrates.
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Shocking photos shared by the council show how the front of the house, surrounded by scaffolding, was hiding a mountain of bricks which had been knocked away from the rest of the building. The council says there is a dangerous structure notice in place which will have to stay until the remaining parts of the building are knocked down or the house is completely rebuilt.
Homes on the quiet residential road, which is only around two minutes walk away from Isleworth railway station, go for at least £800,000. Hounslow Council slammed Khan's actions as "flagrant and reckless" as they vowed to come down hard on anyone who tries to do the same.
Reacting to the court judgement Councillor Tom Bruce, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Development at Hounslow Council, said: “I hope this prosecution and hefty fine sends a strong signal that we take these types of crime - which blight our neighbourhoods and threaten the safety of residents – very seriously and are fully prepared to pursue them.
“Flagrant and reckless breaches of planning rules and building regulations are not acceptable in our borough. This serves as a reminder to every resident that the correct procedures must be followed when undertaking construction on your property or hiring contractors.”
